PUMP UP AMERICA! - IMPROVING JOBS & PROFITS

In beginning this article I showed how/why millions of jobs could be created with the stroke of the President's pen.

Now if we can "Remember the Future" consider that during the first year of all 50 states requiring pump attendants, these new employees would have an opportunity to go to school at community colleges or via internet, to learn mechanics and electronics with an emphasis on electric bicycles.

Why electric bicycles? Because they can provide low cost transportation for many people who can no longer afford the cost of owning an automobile, auto insurance and maintenance.

Bicycle shops have taken slowly to electric bicycles and have not yet begun to market and maintain these vehicles.

TODAY most electric bikes are sold online with service after sales tough to get locally. Trained service station attendants could be taught to diagnose problems and fix those that can be taken care of quickly. Larger repairs could be done in off hours by a team of attendants apprenticing to become electric bicycle mechanics.

A NOTE ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES Electric wheel chairs, carts, tricycles could also be a part of this maintenance program. This would give gas stations and in-road to the electric vehicles of the future. Electric cars are great for promoting the automobile companies vision of the future, but the country is not yet wired up from the grid to public plugs to support immediate deployment of futuristic electric automobiles. Smaller forms of electric vehicles are capable of recharging at any available 110 volt outlet, which we call "friendly plugs".

TODAY The idea that people are going to replace their current internal combustion automobiles with electric automobiles is simply not economically feasible.

Lack of infrastructure for charging stations is not in place. This makes electric automobiles a product for the future or for motorists who have a set perimeter for their vehicle. Hybrids [using a combination of electric and internal combustion] have filled the gap, but they are quite expensive to buy and therefore have a limited market.

ELECTRIC BICYCLES like all bicycles have skyrocketed in popularity around the country since the recession began in 2007. Many "garage entrepeneurs" have now developed efficient electric bicycles and tricycles to enable willing riders to shop, commute and play in communities all around the country. See: America's Bike Friendly Communities and note how many of them are in areas where bad weather is the norm. It is ironic that some of the best weather communities, including my home in San Diego county are way behind cities like Seattle, Boulder, and Portland for reasons that seem to defy explanation. It is not because I haven't pestered people or made it an issue. Here are a few archival articles on "Cruiser Bob" Kiger's work over the past decade to promote "Better Living through Bicycling" in Southern California.

1. UCLA "Daily Bruin" cover story.
2. North County Times article on combining bicycles & commuter trains

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOMORROW... a year after the gas attendants have worked and learned for a year, they will be poised and ready to make higher wages as electric bicycle mechanics. Behind them will be a string of new attendants ready to fill their jobs. Some will see enough demand to start their own electric bicycle shops in neighborhoods across the land. The service station owners will show increased profits at the pumps and in their "convenience stores" and other services...